Buchanan says Cobblers squad has settled quickly under new boss Page

James Heneghan

Cobblers defender David Buchanan has been impressed by the speed at which he and his team-mates have taken to new manager Rob Page as they continue their progress since returning to pre-season training last week.

After taking charge of his first game at the weekend - a 3-0 win over Sileby Rangers - Page and his squad are currently spending the week in Loughborough where they aim to step up their preparations for the forthcoming campaign.

Buchanan netted a rare goal in Saturday’s win over Sileby Rangers, his first in Cobblers colours, and he feels it was an excellent start to life under Page, particularly given the number of fresh faces on show.

“The new lads have settled in fantastically well,” said the 30-year-old.

“They all look like they’ve been here for a long time and they’ve quickly settled into the way the gaffer wants us to play.

“We’ll keep developing on the training ground and on the pitch in pre-season as the gaffer gets his ideas across more and more, and there’s a lot of positives things that we must take from last season.”

Although Page will undoubtedly bring his own ideas and plans, Buchanan believes it remains important for Northampton to build and learn from last season’s success under previous boss Chris Wilder.

“We take momentum from it,” he added. “Just look at Burton Albion and what they did last season, we want to replicate them.

“We haven’t been beaten since December when Portsmouth beat us and that’s something we’ll look to take into this season - get a fast start.

“I’ve played in League One a lot and I think this is the toughest League One for a few years with the teams that have come down and gone up.”

John-Joe O’Toole and new signing Alex Revell were the other scorers in Saturday’s game at Sileby as a sharp and hungry-looking Northampton side easily overwhelmed their UCL Premier Division hosts.

Whilst just a friendly, Buchanan feels that performance and victory reflects how well the Cobblers have settled to the new managerial set-up at Sixfields.

He said: “It’s been fantastic so far. At the start of pre-season when there’s a new manager and new staff it’s like the first day of going to a new school.

“But he’s come in and been dead positive from the start.

“You can see that with his mannerisms and the lads have listened and worked hard.

“I think that’s one good thing about our squad - we make it easy for people because we all work hard.

“We’re a close-knit group on and off the pitch and it’s important the other new lads buy into that and they have already.

“Me and Joel (Byrom) for instance have had a couple of lads move in with us and that’s just fantastic so hopefully we can hit the ground running.”

The Cobblers play their second pre-season friendly on Tuesday night when they travel to Nuneaton Town (ko 7.30pm), who are managed by ex-Town boss Kevin Wilson.